Bill Clinton: “Well, good afternoon. I am delighted to be joined by Secretary Riley and by Bruce Reed, my Domestic Policy Adviser, and…”

“Well, good afternoon. I am delighted to be joined by Secretary Riley and by Bruce Reed, my Domestic Policy Adviser, and by these teachers from our area, some of whom have actually been hired through our class size initiative. All of you know today is Veterans Day. I've just returned from Arlington Cemetery. We always discussed how best to honor the contributions of our veterans on this day. One good way is by reaching agreement on a budget that honors our values, the values for which they served, that enhances opportunity, reinforces responsibility, strengthens our community and the future of our children. We have made important progress toward that end. Last night, after many days and hours of discussion, Congress agreed to continue supporting our efforts to hire 100,000 new, highly qualified teachers to reduce class size in the early grades. That is truly good news for our children and for their future. We know that school enrollments are exploding, record numbers of teachers are retiring. Research is clear that students do learn more in smaller classes with quality teachers. Every parent and teacher in America knows that a child in a second-grade class with 25 students will not get as much attention as he or she needs and deserves. Just this week, we learned that our class size initiative, which Congress agreed to last year, is working. Communities are using the funds from last year's agreement to hire more than 29,000 teachers and reduce average class size for 1.7 million children to 18 students a class. That's why I've made honoring our commitment to reducing class size such a high priority in these budget negotiations. The agreement we have reached has bipartisan support, and it keeps us on track to hiring 100,000 teachers by 2005. As I said in my State of the Union Address, we don't just need more teachers, but better ones. This agreement furthers that goal as well. All teachers hired under this program must be fully qualified. The program gives school districts the flexibility to use 25 percent of the funds from this program to train and test new teachers. It also increases flexibility, with the involvement of the Secretary of Education, to get extra funds for school districts that have a high percentage of their teachers that are not certified to teach the subjects they have been hired to teach, so that they can become fully qualified in those subjects. Through this plan, taxpayer dollars will go for reducing class size in public schools. And I want to thank Members of Congress from both parties. I'd like to particularly mention Chairman Goodling, the chairman of the House committee, for working with us on this, and Senator Patty Murray, who has been such a strong advocate for the class size reduction initiative. But there are many others, as well, who came together in this agreement. This is a victory for America's children. In addition to reducing class size, we've made progress on other vital education initiatives, as well, more than doubling funds for after-school programs and increasing funding for computers in our schools, for mentoring to prepare our children for college, for the Hispanic education programs. We're also making progress on other vital budget priorities, from hiring up to 50,000 new community police officers, to setting aside funds to preserve natural resources and protect our environment for future generations. I am committed to continuing this work with Congress to reach agreement on the issues still outstanding, including ensuring assistance for those who have suffered from the devastating impact of Hurricane Floyd, to paying our dues to the United Nations. And if we can just continue in this bipartisan spirit, very soon, we will complete work on a budget that honors our values, lives within our means, and looks to our future. Thank you all for being here today, for symbolizing what we've been working for. World Trade Organization Talks in China”